Committee debates House Bill 57 and related bills over who must insure peer-to-peer rentals and delivery drivers

Rep. Jeff Coleman and other sponsors told the House Committee on Insurance that House Bill 57 updates Missouri law to treat peer-to-peer car sharing and delivery network services the same way the state treats ride-share platforms, so commercial liability coverage will apply when a vehicle is used to provide those services.

Coleman said the bill would extend statutory protections created in 2016 for transportation network companies to newer business models: peer-to-peer car sharing (owners making their vehicles available to renters through a platform) and delivery network companies (platforms that coordinate deliveries of goods). "Our statutes require an update so that the very same liability protections that apply to our ride [share] programs also apply to leasing their personal vehicles or delivering goods," Coleman told the committee.

Stakeholders split along familiar industry lines over two central issues: (1) whether the delivery-network coverage period should begin when a driver…